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Cat-Scratch wrote:Part of my problem with the crossover events is most likely also my age and having read comics for decades that had barely any major ones until the original crisis hit. Add to that my 80s independent love and manga enjoyment... I prefer the cleaner more focused story telling.

Same here.

I really like how you phrased that -- "cleaner, more focused story-telling." It was cleaner and more focused back then, and I like that way better than this "all over the place" business we have now.

I really like how you phrased that -- "cleaner, more focused story-telling." It was cleaner and more focused back then, and I like that way better than this "all over the place" business we have now.

I call the "all over the place" business - "Plot Bleeding".

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols.""Oh, the pointing again! They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?""Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?"""Timey" what? "Timey wimey"?"

IvCNuB4 wrote:The Old Doctor is Cat-Scratch ?Well that explains a lot :lol:

BubbaKanoosh wrote:Old Doctor is the NuDCU's Catscratch

io9 wrote:What We Learned From Obsessively Studying The New Suicide Squad Footage - Toronto is a dark and dangerous place, full of menace.

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols.""Oh, the pointing again! They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?""Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?"""Timey" what? "Timey wimey"?"

IvCNuB4 wrote:The Old Doctor is Cat-Scratch ?Well that explains a lot :lol:

BubbaKanoosh wrote:Old Doctor is the NuDCU's Catscratch

io9 wrote:What We Learned From Obsessively Studying The New Suicide Squad Footage - Toronto is a dark and dangerous place, full of menace.

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols.""Oh, the pointing again! They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?""Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?"""Timey" what? "Timey wimey"?"

IvCNuB4 wrote:The Old Doctor is Cat-Scratch ?Well that explains a lot :lol:

BubbaKanoosh wrote:Old Doctor is the NuDCU's Catscratch

io9 wrote:What We Learned From Obsessively Studying The New Suicide Squad Footage - Toronto is a dark and dangerous place, full of menace.

With a few exceptions, there is a lack of strong narrative focus in many of these series. In many cases there is also a lack of proper cause-and-effect relationships between plot elements. And most annoyingly, since I read comics for the characters, in many cases character development is subordinated to the plot, if not ignored entirely.

With a few exceptions, there is a lack of strong narrative focus in many of these series. In many cases there is also a lack of proper cause-and-effect relationships between plot elements. And most annoyingly, since I read comics for the characters, in many cases character development is subordinated to the plot, if not ignored entirely.

Well... they should, Herald. In many modern comics, though, they don't.

One of the reasons I gave up on the JL books is because the plot is driving the characters and not the other way around. (Another reason is that all the plot points seemed to be done for the sake of shock value.)

Speaking of decompressed comics, that's something that has gotten to me too, big time. It has its place as a technique, but creators tend to abuse it to pad their stories beyond all belief.

The classic and worst example I can think of was that Johns JSA arc, Thy Kingdom Come, also known as "The walking tour of places none of the readers care about, with side excursions into an insane Earth 2 that never appears again, and to a crazed and inexplicably powerful Magog, or is it Gog, who wanders around killing people for no apparent reason". That shit was LONG...way too long.

However, I find the indies full of stuff that absolutely isn't padded. A great recent, (this week), example is Dynamite's The Shadow Annual, which tells the story of the death of Bugsy Seigel, and how that happened, (hint---The Shadow knows), while weaving it into The Shadow's backstory, all while giving a complete story that sheds light on the character of The Shadow in just the one issue.

Not that everything has to be done in one, but arcs shouldn't be longer than absolutely necessary to tell the story. Which they are very frequently, at DC at least, (though I also point the finger at Valiant's Harbinger Wars, another wretched example of the crossover run amok).

Achilles is the kind of evil that hollows out a volcano for a lair, and sends killer robots after his enemies.---Lord Simian

achilles wrote:Speaking of decompressed comics, that's something that has gotten to me too, big time. It has its place as a technique, but creators tend to abuse it to pad their stories beyond all belief.

The classic and worst example I can think of was that Johns JSA arc, Thy Kingdom Come, also known as "The walking tour of places none of the readers care about, with side excursions into an insane Earth 2 that never appears again, and to a crazed and inexplicably powerful Magog, or is it Gog, who wanders around killing people for no apparent reason". That shit was LONG...way too long.

However, I find the indies full of stuff that absolutely isn't padded. A great recent, (this week), example is Dynamite's The Shadow Annual, which tells the story of the death of Bugsy Seigel, and how that happened, (hint---The Shadow knows), while weaving it into The Shadow's backstory, all while giving a complete story that sheds light on the character of The Shadow in just the one issue.

Not that everything has to be done in one, but arcs shouldn't be longer than absolutely necessary to tell the story. Which they are very frequently, at DC at least, (though I also point the finger at Valiant's Harbinger Wars, another wretched example of the crossover run amok).

"Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols.""Oh, the pointing again! They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?""Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?"""Timey" what? "Timey wimey"?"

IvCNuB4 wrote:The Old Doctor is Cat-Scratch ?Well that explains a lot :lol:

BubbaKanoosh wrote:Old Doctor is the NuDCU's Catscratch

io9 wrote:What We Learned From Obsessively Studying The New Suicide Squad Footage - Toronto is a dark and dangerous place, full of menace.